An Essay on the No-Nonsense Guide to Science
An Essay on The No-Nonsense Guide to Science
“Science is the great intellectual adventure, but can also be an instrument of profit, power, and privilege. Wrongly used, it might yet make the twenty-first century our last.” – J. Ravetz
Before reading the book, my first impression on it was that it’s going to be too intellectual just like any other science books; that it will be focused on scientific knowledge and conclusions. But after reading the said book, a new view on science and its effect on the society and politics came to me; this is how science is being more politicized.
The book title is undoubtedly misleading that it shows the pure beauty of science but what it truly contains is the connection of science to its political aspects and what science can do to further improve it. It shows how the science is now greatly used only by those who have the power and those who can finance science. The author speaks to oppose the growing power of big companies in the US and how they try to manipulate the use of science towards the growth only of their companies and lessening the wide impacts of scientific advancements.
The No-Nonsense Guide to Science shows Ravetz not being impressed with objectivity and perfect certainty that he demonstrates inaccuracies in the field of science as social constructions. In fact, there are times that Ravetz points out some historical mistakes and misconceptions on scientific concepts, that there will be some point in time that science will likely be wrong or approach a wrong conclusion about some things. Also, it shows a new way to view and evaluate science to understand its significance in the society today.
Ravetz uses the acronym GRAINN to symbolize the new technologies that are entering the world of science today; this acronym stands for Genomics, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Neuroscience and Nanotechnology which is the new addition to the old GRAIN. These technologies will give our world unimaginable amount of changes
“Science is the great intellectual adventure, but can also be an instrument of profit, power, and privilege. Wrongly used, it might yet make the twenty-first century our last.” – J. Ravetz
Before reading the book, my first impression on it was that it’s going to be too intellectual just like any other science books; that it will be focused on scientific knowledge and conclusions. But after reading the said book, a new view on science and its effect on the society and politics came to me; this is how science is being more politicized.
The book title is undoubtedly misleading that it shows the pure beauty of science but what it truly contains is the connection of science to its political aspects and what science can do to further improve it. It shows how the science is now greatly used only by those who have the power and those who can finance science. The author speaks to oppose the growing power of big companies in the US and how they try to manipulate the use of science towards the growth only of their companies and lessening the wide impacts of scientific advancements.
The No-Nonsense Guide to Science shows Ravetz not being impressed with objectivity and perfect certainty that he demonstrates inaccuracies in the field of science as social constructions. In fact, there are times that Ravetz points out some historical mistakes and misconceptions on scientific concepts, that there will be some point in time that science will likely be wrong or approach a wrong conclusion about some things. Also, it shows a new way to view and evaluate science to understand its significance in the society today.
Ravetz uses the acronym GRAINN to symbolize the new technologies that are entering the world of science today; this acronym stands for Genomics, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Neuroscience and Nanotechnology which is the new addition to the old GRAIN. These technologies will give our world unimaginable amount of changes